This Is How Terrible Atlantic City, New Jersey Is Now

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 เม.ย. 2022
  • Oh my gosh this place is one of the worst places on the east coast.
    Is this place being destroyed right before our eyes?
    Atlantic City. Back in the roaring 20s, this place was called the World’s Playground. The beach, the boardwalk and gambling. There really was nothing like it. However, this city has fallen on hard times over the last couple decades. It has a really bad reputation for crime and blight, and is suffering from a huge loss in tourism. It’s a living breathing decay in progress, happening right now in front of us.
    So of course I had to see it. So I went there.
    Now we’re going to spend some time looking at the good and the bad parts of Atlantic City. Well, there really isn’t A LOT of good here - once you’re a block from the casinos, it’s pretty rundown. Even the streets NEAR the casinos are kinda shady. Right now, we’re on Pacific Avenue. This is the main drag where most of Atlantic City’s casinos are located. It’s pretty sketch here - there are strip clubs, ghetto bars, liquor stores, and people standing around that look like they’re doing something illegal. You’ll see homeless people, addicts, drunks, rowdy teens, and the mentally ill.
    The liquor stores along Pacific Avenue get robbed. Tourists get robbed here. Actually, most of the assaults that take place in Atlantic City happen right here, within viewing distance of these rundown casinos.
    Let’s go one street over. Now we’re on Atlantic Avenue - one block further from the boardwalk. This street is bad news, pal. It, too is super sketchy at all hours, but at night - it’s a horror show. It’s dark and seedy and people are doing terrible things in the shadows.
    There’s no wonder why Atlantic City got a bad reputation and why hotel bookings are down. This place used to be amazing. For a long time, it was the only place to offer legal gambling outside of Nevada. It’s a short train ride from New York City, and people all over the northeast used to flock here every year.
    Now, there’s casinos in Pennsylvania and Connecticut, or people can just fly down to Florida, Myrtle Beach or Virginia Beach.
    Plus Hurricane Sandy really did a number on this place.
    They were kinda optimistic here for a while. There were some new fancy casino openings, and crime was going down a bit.
    This is a good time to transition to the Board Walk. Get it? The Atlantic City boardwalk isn’t that bad during the day. There’s a lot of stuff to get you entertained for an afternoon.
    It’s sad to see the world’s first ever boardwalk in such decline. But at least the ocean views are pretty. So that’s cool.
    Ok so now we’re going to the bad side of town where all the dangerous neighborhoods are. Let me just say, that practically this entire city is bad. There are some okay streets, but I haven’t really been to a place before where there wasn’t at least one large nice part of town. Everything in Atlantic City - practically every block - is below average run down. Not ghetto ghetto. But ghetto.
    There’s a lot of section 8 housing here, and with that comes a lot of drug and gang activity. Lots of hoodlums and pimps. A lot of robberies, assaults and car jackings. Crime here is 12 times higher than the national average per capita.
    It’s bad here at night. It’s very rundown and very sad.
    A lot of people in these neighborhoods rely on the casinos for their employment. Dealers can make a lot of dough - maybe 25 an hour, plus a hundred bucks a day in tips. Though, most workers at the casinos make minimum wage. At least it’s cheap here - the average home price is $165,000. You can see why.
    But the lifeline that the casinos provide residents here has been severed. Due to Covid and bad casino management, Atlantic City has seen some hard times, people. Residents here have been struggling for a long time now, but after Covid, 40% of the population here lives in poverty.
    The president of the Atlantic City housing authority said - The landscape in Atlantic City is pretty dire right now.
    People are broke and hungry and desperate here.
    AC is a dumping ground for ex felons, needle exchanges, welfare recipients and sex offenders. Just look at the list of all the sex offenders who live here. What the what the
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  • @NickJohnson
    @NickJohnson  2 ปีที่แล้ว +34

    Here's my entire New Jersey playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLq-_cmf3H6yosRmEHylUyc7rJLHt8zDbp.html

    • @Jstone732
      @Jstone732 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Hard rock casino is the best place to go. If you enjoy losing money🫠

    • @purpetrator
      @purpetrator 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Hi! Are you still doing consultations? Sent you an email awhile back

    • @elainejones2680
      @elainejones2680 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      In addition, I think he said he didn't see nicer established neighborhoods. He didn't look for them.
      His video had to support his pov. Most of the cities he has disparaged omit the reason why beyond residents being the fault.

    • @mathmagic9272
      @mathmagic9272 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Whoever designed that city was clearly on drugs! Christ! It's like, every turn off a block is a different zipcode/timezone-almost like it's mean to confuse you! So even when you leave the casino, turns out you are still in the casino. It's a place you go to for alcohol and maybe hookers!

    • @azzz4708
      @azzz4708 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@elainejones2680 💯 Read my comments. I added some words to the vocabulary of @NickJohnson: Venice Park & Bungalow Park. Just like you commented, he saw what he came to see, blight, crime, low level activity. His credibility was lowered just by the fact that he went to a famous beach resort in February!!! 🏖️ smh

  • @savioursoul
    @savioursoul 2 ปีที่แล้ว +228

    Atlantic City has always looked like that. It was never amazing in the 70’s and 80’s. The whole reason casinos were allowed to open there was so that the tax revenues, etc. would go towards city and community improvements. Those never happened.

    • @sarahsambucini7271
      @sarahsambucini7271 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Nope, as usual pockets got lined and city folks were kept down. Sickening

    • @sunnydaze2359
      @sunnydaze2359 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      True. As long as I’ve been alive it never looked any better than that.

    • @smunford3319
      @smunford3319 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      They (the state government) were never going to improve Atlantic City

    • @HoboJobo
      @HoboJobo 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      The place stayed the same but the crowd got rough

    • @mr.jamster8414
      @mr.jamster8414 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      uhm...? All I'm seeing is this guy showing photos of a normal-looking city center and then talking it up like it's a noir dystopia

  • @whiskey_tango_foxtrot__
    @whiskey_tango_foxtrot__ 2 ปีที่แล้ว +52

    Imagine having a monopoly on east coast gambling FOR A GENERATION and wasting it. The massive corruption of the monopoly of the parry in power.

  • @hoos3014
    @hoos3014 2 ปีที่แล้ว +260

    I just spent a couple of days in AC, which is probably why this video popped up for me. The family and I had a great time and we never felt unsafe. Nearly every hotel room was sold out.
    The arcade and indoor go cart track at the Showboat were great fun for the kids. The beach was very clean (and free!)
    Of course there are run down areas. Walking and driving around AC you can see the bones of a formerly great resort city. Newcomers like Kelsey's restaurant on Pacific are trying to bring back that glory. Unlike the tone of this video, I am rooting for them to succeed.

    • @flightofthebumblebee9529
      @flightofthebumblebee9529 ปีที่แล้ว +56

      I agree. This video sucks. These people are so negative and seem to be afraid of their own shadows.

    • @terriann73
      @terriann73 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      I live right across the bridge and work in the city- it’s disgusting. I have been robbed myself. I went to see a patient in their boarding home and got stuck in there because their was a swat situation out front while I was inside.

    • @PB22559
      @PB22559 ปีที่แล้ว

      A formerly great resort city? AC has always been a shithole.

    • @maggiekay9292
      @maggiekay9292 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Facts aren't always pretty unfortunately. Its sad there

    • @MoneyComethToshelia
      @MoneyComethToshelia ปีที่แล้ว +1

      YOU KNOW WHITE PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS TRIED TO STEREOTYPE ANYTHING BLACK AS BAD. I work at a popular grocery store in a white area, and guess what? every WHITE person who comes through my line is on FOOD STAMPS. BUT THEY WANT SHOW THIS IN THE NEWS, OR REPORT ON IT!!!!!

  • @CC-hg9un
    @CC-hg9un 2 ปีที่แล้ว +346

    “These days?” AC has always looked like this, even when the casinos were booming in the 80s and 90s!

    • @jerryc5743
      @jerryc5743 2 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      Slots and slums was the tag line back then.

    • @zew1414
      @zew1414 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Yup, was always a dump. Like the ATM machine at 1am when people's SSI money is available on their cards, draws stick up lids outside in the parking lot. Casinos always drew stick up lids just a block away from any casino.

    • @patrickcarey393
      @patrickcarey393 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      It was a major dump when I first visited in the 1960s. After the casinos were built there was only a slight improvement down by the boardwalk. Since the gambling declined even the boardwalk area has gone bad.

    • @michaelsuzio4364
      @michaelsuzio4364 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Atlantic city looked like newark the last time I saw it two Octobers ago Ocean City NJ looked great though I loved ocean city I was four blocks away from the boardwalk the casino/boardwalk area didn't look that bad though I went to the margate city beach and liked it

    • @elbey1355
      @elbey1355 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Lol True but they still come

  • @sharonmaurer2882
    @sharonmaurer2882 2 ปีที่แล้ว +90

    I lived there from 2008 til 2014 worked security at the showboat. Lived on pacific ave in one of the condos. Took the jitney bus to and from work at late hours. Never got robbed or anything. Just have to be aware of your surroundings and watch out for yourself

    • @kaysquadvideos7668
      @kaysquadvideos7668 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Is it really dangerous?

    • @jamalevans1574
      @jamalevans1574 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@kaysquadvideos7668 yes

    • @Andrew_NJ
      @Andrew_NJ ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@kaysquadvideos7668 Yes it is very dangerous, if you are a female do not walk outside a casino or on the boardwalk by yourself, especially at night. Clueless tourists visit "The Walk" all the time which is literally a few blocks from the projects home to all manner of crime. I would never shop there and run red lights if anyone approaches my car.

    • @MorenaDominicana86
      @MorenaDominicana86 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@kaysquadvideos7668No. They’re exaggerating. It wouldn’t even make the top most dangerous cities in NJ. You can walk the boardwalk by yourself and you’ll be totally fine. If you’re female, don’t walk it at night by yourself. Don’t be crazy. Off the boardwalk, it depends on what part of town. The Walk isn’t a bad area… at all. You might see a crackhead on the way but that’s mostly any city.

  • @1pinestreet
    @1pinestreet 2 ปีที่แล้ว +35

    I was in AC in 1965 as a kid. This was years before the gambling was legalized (mid 70s). What I remember was that once you left the boardwalk, the city area was very run down. My father had a hard time finding a restaurant because the area was very sketchy.

    • @metalmike570
      @metalmike570 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      I think it's improved a lot from the early 80's. I grew up there 1968 (4 years old) to 1982, HS grad. Then worked in the casino I was in slot machine repair / maintenance. By 97 I was burned out and joined the military. I was newly married too and once we left there I never really went back except to visit family.
      I'm still on the east coast, I've been in Virginia it's hectic here but there was more employment opportunities. I'm mostly retired now. I don't regret my choice except my parents passed away I didn't realize they were elderly it all just kind of happened. When you raise kids time really flies.

  • @meszaros-doboskory9493
    @meszaros-doboskory9493 2 ปีที่แล้ว +50

    Born and Raised in NJ, worked at Harrah's and never felt unsafe. We have amazing historic Restaurants that are the best.
    White House Sub Shop where Frank and many more legends enjoyed.
    I am kind of mad at the picture you painted of Atlantic City, calling it Ghetto. I worked with many hard working families, that both the Husband and Wife worked at the same Casino and lost their job like I did when the Pennsylvania Casinos opened.
    The people I worked with are born and raised Atlantic City, and are as saddened what is happening now. These families are proud of where they came from, but wishes it would change also.
    What I would like to see in Atlantic City is see the A/C strip go away, and once again have the area by the Ocean become a Family destination once again.
    Keep the Marina for the Casinos.
    It was an amazing place growing up going to A/C.

    • @allanbard6048
      @allanbard6048 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      I was SO happy when I saw the White House sign still up!

    • @NickJohnson
      @NickJohnson  2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I'm sorry if I made you sad 😢

    • @maninthehills7134
      @maninthehills7134 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Don't get mad at the numbers. Pride is no substitute for quality of life.

    • @metalmike570
      @metalmike570 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I grew up there and we moved to Brigantine around 1980. By around the mid 80's I worked at Playboy's Casino in slots. Then Sands in hard count and slots repair again. Then Tropicana casino back in slots repair. I began hating the job by the 90's and the casino downsized so I lost my job. I enlisted in the Army in 1998 in my 30's. I missed quite a few people including my parents but I had a family (wife and kids) myself and was more able to take care of them. We ended up in the state of Virginia and it's pretty good. I still miss my cousins in the AC area and a few other people there. So I related to your comment - really good comment Sir.

    • @ewoe21
      @ewoe21 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      The White House is the best. We still go there all the time. Italian sausage with onions and peppers.

  • @khester7397
    @khester7397 2 ปีที่แล้ว +186

    "Is this place being destroyed before our very eyes?"
    Is it in the United States of America? Then yes.

    • @ufo715
      @ufo715 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Bro ppl been saying this forever. Its literally a city thats always been bad. Nothing new

    • @nope6908
      @nope6908 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      @@ufo715 rural areas and Peninsula resorts are okay, but American cities are just awful, it’s sad seeing this happen

    • @dogie1070
      @dogie1070 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Sometimes it goes bad in a matter of weeks!

    • @bussinblaney3951
      @bussinblaney3951 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@ufo715 exactly lol people act like almost any other country is a better place to live

    • @Gfysimpletons
      @Gfysimpletons 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      ….is it run by democrats is a more suiting question/answer…..derp

  • @1983jcheat
    @1983jcheat 2 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    I grew up right outside the city. My parents worked there for 30 years. Left in 2013, and never looked back.

  • @imapo82day
    @imapo82day 2 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    I grew up about 15 miles from AC, and moved there when I was newly married. My husband was a cab driver and I cleaned houses and waitressed. I was there when the voter referendum came up to allow casino gambling in the city. I vigorously opposed the casinos because I knew what they would do to the city with its shakey infostructure. AC was beautiful and fun in the '60s, '70s, and the beginning of the '80s. It was when then that the Mob out of Philly came in and infiltrated the casinos. We left in1984. I now live in Lethbridge, Alberta Canada and I love it here.

    • @seascape35
      @seascape35 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Wow, you really moved far away! Is it very rural where you now live?

    • @danyi6119
      @danyi6119 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Aren’t Canadians being stripped of freedoms ?

    • @imapo82day
      @imapo82day 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@danyi6119 No, not at all. I`ve been here 20 years and life just gets better and better. Our freedoms are assured by the Charter of Rifgts and Freedoms, and even though we have some problems, we are better than ever!

    • @imapo82day
      @imapo82day 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@seascape35 I live in a city of one hundred thousand and am 2 hours away from Calgary with a population of One million six hundred and eleven thousand. In the 2 hours in between the cities are some tiny towns but mostly farmland and ranches.

    • @danyi6119
      @danyi6119 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@imapo82day ok, I heard that certain groups were being targeted up there.

  • @resin_Hd
    @resin_Hd 2 ปีที่แล้ว +61

    As a kid in the mid-60’s, the family used to go down to AC for a week every summer. But that was BTC … (Before The Casinos). After dark, the boardwalk was always crowded with tourists. The amusement rides, tourist shops and games used to keep everybody entertained. The casinos originally chased all the families away. Sad.

    • @allanbard6048
      @allanbard6048 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Stealing "BTC" from you!🤣

    • @NickJohnson
      @NickJohnson  2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Or just "BC"

    • @fransmith8992
      @fransmith8992 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      wrong. AC was dead by the early 70's. that's why they passed casino gambling.they though it would bring the city back. unfortunately , it didn't help. once the rot and cancer gets into a city, there is no turning it back to a good place.

    • @metalmike570
      @metalmike570 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@fransmith8992 It helped the unemployment problem all through the 80's though. However, some of the jobs sucked and many of us got "casino burnout".
      By the mid 90's I did something a lot different and left NJ, I went for a career in the military.

    • @fransmith8992
      @fransmith8992 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@metalmike570 from my understanding, most of the jobs created by casinos , whether in construction or the industry itself, went to people who didn't live in AC.

  • @beerranger4423
    @beerranger4423 2 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    I work here all the time for my job, it’s the hood on the water. Very sad, has so much potential

  • @singh5004
    @singh5004 2 ปีที่แล้ว +206

    The nice lady you interviewed Nick is a good example how people make it look it’s “not too bad living in these areas”, hence accountability goes out of the window and complacency sets in. Sad but true … please don’t normalize the decay and crime

    • @aggierowe9574
      @aggierowe9574 2 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      Absolutely. I was a kid in the 80s and this place was struggling then. I think the glorious days left in the 1930s.

    • @saltycat662
      @saltycat662 2 ปีที่แล้ว +49

      I grew up in the ghetto and I hate when people act like living in these areas is fine and dandy. No, no they're not. Not when you're struggling and you can't even walk out the front door because there's a huge group of criminals hanging out there making noise all night long. There were days they made so much noise, I couldn't sleep and had to work early the next day. It's always the same type of person who says these places are fine too if you catch my drift and it annoys me to no end.

    • @davidarmitage289
      @davidarmitage289 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      @@saltycat662 well said

    • @bungabunga-jimford
      @bungabunga-jimford 2 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      She was holding back the truth and you can tell. I think his video is early morning. Would show a lot more midday.

    • @wil7228
      @wil7228 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@saltycat662 take a look at Vegas , and they have 3 police agencies.

  • @nc4tn
    @nc4tn 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Gambling is the next worst addiction to drugs.
    When I was a child, A man in my community decided he wanted to go to Vegas…..drove there in a nice car with a $1000 bucks in his billfold and hitch-hiked back home.

    • @stephendacey8761
      @stephendacey8761 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      when you sell your car to pay for gambling losses, get help

  • @bernadettegraffeo9995
    @bernadettegraffeo9995 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Hey Nick!!! As usual, GREAT VIDEO.....you are very talented in what you do, and I wish you continued success..... thank you for the hard work you put into these videos...stay well!!

  • @richardlouis1284
    @richardlouis1284 2 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    This is nothing new Nick, born and raised in NJ and worked in AC area for years, its Camden-by-the-Sea. Pacific Ave has been shite for a long time

  • @OMEGATECH
    @OMEGATECH 2 ปีที่แล้ว +95

    As a kid living in 1970s' NJ, my parents decided to go AC for vacation because they heard about the Boardwalk, etc. needless to say when we got there we stayed one night just long enough to buy one of those souvenir plates that you hang on the wall and drove away before nightfall.

    • @kathyscoppettuolo7168
      @kathyscoppettuolo7168 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Same here.

    • @MrManfly
      @MrManfly 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      AC was never on my list of places to visit and this just confirms it !!

    • @zaycation8584
      @zaycation8584 2 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      @@MrManfly Don't listen to this guy, in the summertime the boardwalk is beautiful, plenty of restaurants, the amusement park and the beach parties and concerts are great. The casinos are loaded with food places and entertainment, and parties on Friday and Saturday nights.

    • @Gfysimpletons
      @Gfysimpletons 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@zaycation8584 you are wrong……..it’s a pissssssssssssssshole…..mr.. kang BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    • @Gfysimpletons
      @Gfysimpletons 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@zaycation8584 7:17
      Which dot are you?? 😂🤣😂🤣😂

  • @mrlevittown
    @mrlevittown 2 ปีที่แล้ว +122

    I have completed 1200 DoorDash deliveries and close to 800 of those deliveries have been in Atlantic City. I've delivered all over the city from as early as 7 AM all the way to 4 AM. I don't remember ever feeling afraid. The only time I did was in Pleasantville. I've gone through a few working class neighborhoods and what I saw was cliche busting. Kids playing. A bunch of adult men walking around talking about and working on cars. I've seen really crappy areas of AC. I've also seen the good parts. I understand the negatives but you weren't even handed in your treatment of this city.

    • @Jennifer-iz4qq
      @Jennifer-iz4qq 2 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      Thank you. Atlantic city is not what he is making it out to be in this video. I am an attractive white woman and I have never felt uneasy or afraid anywhere or anytime during the time I lived and worked there and we still have a summer home there today. Super sociopathic commentary man.

    • @Jennifer-iz4qq
      @Jennifer-iz4qq 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      @@SouthjettyBill my point was the stereotypical attractive white female scared to go out alone in the city. I have never had any issues there. Myself and all my girlfriends would park on Atlantic Ave and walk to the clubs just to avoid paying for parking. Ac isn't scary.

    • @Darkstar-rg8ze
      @Darkstar-rg8ze 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@SouthjettyBill she's not

    • @jayfelsberg1931
      @jayfelsberg1931 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Pleasantville indeed

    • @mikechialastri7777
      @mikechialastri7777 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      He never is even handed

  • @awbrandt1
    @awbrandt1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    Went to the casinos in the 80's and early 90's and AC was always a hole. Don't walk around the casinos or break down in town at night. Once at the casino, it felt fairly safe. But girls in front of the casinos and robberies were common. Most parking was part of the casino and was fairly safe. The boardwalk also felt safe and it was the best way to walk to the next casino even at night but less safe. It seemed like the casinos had some type of protection and kept AC at arms length. Also homeless seemed a less common problem.

  • @cesarpisa6964
    @cesarpisa6964 2 ปีที่แล้ว +96

    As someone who has strong roots in Atlantic City there are some shady areas but not all of Atlantic City is a mess. The areas south of Tropicana casino in the Chelsea area and further south when you get to Ventnor are pretty much safe clean areas.

    • @metalmike570
      @metalmike570 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      It was always like that, I grew up in the 70's there and always felt better on the end you mentioned. I left in 1998, enlisted in the military in my early 30's, then I ended up in the state of Virginia. I do miss some of the people and my relatives / cousins that are there.

    • @jojobean4211
      @jojobean4211 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Ventnor not da city ain’t shit past Chelsea but ventnor margate white ppl city’s

    • @metalmike570
      @metalmike570 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@jojobean4211 They do take better care of their houses, I guess because their income was good enough.

    • @metalmike570
      @metalmike570 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @Bali Breeze Look I haven't been there for many years, that's the way it was. If you look at the video here you see all those spaces well they used to be older homes that were unkept. Obviously the town and the casinos bought them and leveled them out. What we see now here is a vast improvement. I don't need your input about home maintenance okay. Trust me, they didn't maintain them, and they've been razed by the casinos. and A.C. local government took care of it. I lived there in that area for 30 years before I left, from the time I was a kid.

    • @gonagetcha8102
      @gonagetcha8102 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I agree I go Margate in the summer . Or Longport I have family in Ventor Heights.

  • @AndyWitmyer
    @AndyWitmyer 2 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    I agree with the lady about Atlantic City looking a lot worse in the 90s. I went there as a kid with my parents and we stayed up in one of the top floors of one of the bigger casino buildings and I was shocked by the how the city looked from that high up. You had the casinos areas and boardwalk which looked ritzy and glamorous but then literally one block over, it looked like s third world nation. The contrast between wealth and poverty so plainly and shocking evident from my high rise viewpoint was just profoundly striking. We went through the city and I was likewise surprised by the number of homeless (again, in the 90s) and there were literally like 5 extremely sketchy "WE BUY GOLD" shops on every other block. On your drive through the city, though, the businesses and commercial buildings looked largely better and less sketchy than the 90s. I also expected the casinos themselves to look worse for wear, but they seemed to look okay.
    This isn't to say that the city and the general financial / economic situation isn't bad - it clearly is, and it will likely get worse before it gets better (although it probably won't), the city does seem to strangely look largely better and cleaner than it used to. I can't stress enough how ghetto the non casino areas looked in the 90s compared to now. Maybe, as the woman said, the city's gotten better at hiding the homelessness homelessness and drug culture these days, and overlaps even managed to polish a nice sheen on the surface of a turd.

    • @NickJohnson
      @NickJohnson  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Totally!!

    • @metalmike570
      @metalmike570 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Well most of that 90's ghetto was torn down. Notice on this video look at all the empty spaces - man a lot has been torn down and I noticed some apartments have been built again and it looks much better.

  • @bananadude9642
    @bananadude9642 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Love your vids, mate!!! Truthful and a touch of humor!!!

  • @atlasshrugged4618
    @atlasshrugged4618 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    I got a lot of family in AC, my mom grew up
    there. It was run down before the casinos but in my opinion got worse with the casinos. Boardwalk & Pacific safe enough. Atlantic Ave during the day but gets pretty sketchy after that. Most middle class moved into the surrounding towns just outside AC.

  • @paulsuprono7225
    @paulsuprono7225 2 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    Hard Rock Casino . . . used to be Trumps 'Taj Mahal' . . . 😬

  • @ckmbyrnes
    @ckmbyrnes 2 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    I visited AC 20ish years ago for work, and obviously things have not improved. The city limits used to run down the middle of the street; on one side were the casinos and on the other were slums. I had never seen anything like it. All the taxes raised from the casinos were funneled into a small city area and the rest of the city was the counties problem. City police all over the casino side while drug deals (and probably worse) in the open on the other. If we ever left the casino we did it in pairs, but looking back that was probably not enough.

    • @jacobrogers7363
      @jacobrogers7363 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Some real sh#$t bro😎 I went to the Bahamas islands few years ago....only advice, don't leave the turrist area , keep your boat in sight.

    • @sitdowndogbreath
      @sitdowndogbreath 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@jacobrogers7363 during one of the hurricane down here I think it was Hurricane Dorian the Bahamas got hit very bad and you saw the people evacuated to the US half of the Bahamas people look ghetto coming for the Bahamas it was very surreal

  • @kenthespeaker6901
    @kenthespeaker6901 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Great video Nick.loved the interesting interview on the gambling.

  • @willasage23240
    @willasage23240 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I recommend your channel to everyone because it’s so good!

  • @82ndAbnVet
    @82ndAbnVet 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Last time I went to Atlantic City, was New Year's Eve 2005, we drove from York, Pa. Watched the fireworks off the boardwalk. It was still bustling back then. I've since moved to Colorado and now drive to Las Vegas for fun.

  • @renroxhrd
    @renroxhrd 2 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    I've never been there. My mom grew up in the 70s by new York City and she went there for vacation a few times in the 70s and 80s. She said it was a shithole then and I can see nothing has changed in 40 years

    • @analyticalhabitrails9857
      @analyticalhabitrails9857 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Well you're mother is right. It hasn't changed in 40 years....so I don't expect it to change another 40 years from now.

    • @johnmininger7472
      @johnmininger7472 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Your mom sounds roughly my age. My wife grew up in the 70s in NYC and I grew up in the Philadelphia area in the 70s. My parents took the family to the Jersey shore frequently, including AC, in the 70s before we moved away and then I went back to AC several times in the early 90s as young adult. Your mom is right, it was a real shithole back then.

  • @jeffsea6490
    @jeffsea6490 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Thanks for sharing scenic dash board tour with gr8 journalism with interesting Ashley and Troy interviews ! Hope Mappy gets out of jail soon 💚🍀🇺🇲

  • @MustafabinHakim
    @MustafabinHakim 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    I visited there around this same time. Outside of the boardwalk, unfortunately much of the city and the surrounding areas are very depressing. I wanted to get out of town after about five minutes of being in town!

  • @clifford7594
    @clifford7594 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    This place has been disgusting throughout my life - and I'm 71. My grandparents, parents, friends and I loved visiting all of the shore points - except Atlantic City.

  • @jerryc5743
    @jerryc5743 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    15:53 - between about 1969 and 1980, AC was a toilet. The rise of the casinos, starting with Resorts in 1976, was a reprieve from a lot of the poverty. In the 1970’s, the mob sent Nicky Scarfo down there as exile/punishment because there was no action.

    • @metalmike570
      @metalmike570 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That's right, voting casinos in - and they do provide a lot of work and attract tourism. It was part of A.C.'s revitalization. In many ways it is a success. Some of us remember the lack of work / unemployment in the early to mid 70's.

  • @eurodoc6343
    @eurodoc6343 2 ปีที่แล้ว +74

    What's really amazing is that most of the other shore towns in the area are really safe and nice. There's an absolute night and day difference between Atlantic City and nearby Ocean City.

    • @NickJohnson
      @NickJohnson  2 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      Even Ventnor City is way different

    • @user-fb4zo8wd5n
      @user-fb4zo8wd5n 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      I have never been to Atlantic City, but I have been to Ocean City a few times and it was fine.

    • @eurodoc6343
      @eurodoc6343 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@NickJohnson True, same with Margate and Longport, all connected with AC on one island. Things deteriorate rapidly, though, as soon as you cross the municipal border between AC and Ventnor.

    • @Jeff-uj8xi
      @Jeff-uj8xi 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@NickJohnson Parts of Ventnor City are a disgrace like Atlantic City. The part of Ventnor nearest to the border with Atlantic City is horrible. Hard to find many people speaking English. Those people are scrubbing the casino kitchen floors and washing the pots. That area has many absentee home owners interested in making a buck who rent to far too many people. It's not unusual to have eight or ten kids in a house. When one of those places burns down, thirty people are homeless. The city housing inspectors can't keep up with it.
      Yet Ventnor is a remarkable study in contrasts. Certain parts of Ventnor has million dollar homes, like on the beach blocks, with very wealthy people. The high-rise condos along the Ventnor Boardwalk have very wealthy people living in them, often as second homes. Atlantic Avenue is the dividing line between slums, a seedy trash strewn area and big beautiful homes. When entering Ventnor, heading Downbeach, the first twelve blocks are a mess and disgrace. Past the WAWA store, the area is gorgeous. Then past that area it becomes seedy again.
      One Ventnor area in particular, way out north of Ventnor Avenue near the Margate border, has multi-million dollar homes. I forget what that area is called. It's out behind Marven Gardens. Every driveway has a BMW, a Porsche, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a
      Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4, a Bugatti Chiron, a Maserati, etc. I kid you not. It has to be seen to be believed. Yet a few short miles away is a seedy slum.

    • @jdiscovered6686
      @jdiscovered6686 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Wildwood is just as bad or worse. Major heroin problem. Tent cities behind Walmart and others areas. Don't be fooled by the commercials. Do a video on that town.

  • @josephwaters2792
    @josephwaters2792 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I was born in AC. Ac is very transient and actually too diversified. We used to have cohesive neighborhoods good and not so good but probably better in some ways because they were cohesive neighborhoods. Now, even on the boardwalk, it's chaotic. Ocean City for example is mostly families and some locals. Wildwood is mostly families and noisy college kids. Ac boardwalk used to say have a loud moment here and there but now there's families, drunks, winos, hard core gamblers, business people, college kids, locals, hoods, prostitutes, little kids sitting on the stoop next to a massage parlor right off the boardwalk where there once was a nice neighborhood, etc, etc. The worst neighborhoods are right next to the police stations? This has spread to the once nicer cities surrounding it. It needs locals but doesn't really want locals. It doesn't know what it wants to be. It just knows it wants your money.

  • @jerryc5743
    @jerryc5743 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    14:23 - the more south you go on Absecon Island, AC - > Ventnor -> Margate -> Longport, the more affluent it becomes. Year-round population in Margate and Longport is sparse. Longport PD is more like a security company for the rich.

  • @delphi-moochymaker62
    @delphi-moochymaker62 2 ปีที่แล้ว +169

    As a Canadian, I drove through Newark once. Now I know what a post apocalyptic world looks like.

    • @photodumper
      @photodumper 2 ปีที่แล้ว +66

      Before selecting a destination, check if it's run by dems first.

    • @imdva
      @imdva 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      i would stay away from nj lmao. there's good small towns, but for the most part, there's few redeeming qualities about it

    • @jerseystrongg2g352
      @jerseystrongg2g352 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      😆👊🏼

    • @AndyWitmyer
      @AndyWitmyer 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      @@imdva Cape May is a legitimately beautiful town. Unsurprisingly, being the most southern part of the state, it's about as far away from Newark and other 3rd world slums as a person in NJ can reasonably get, and it shows.

    • @imdva
      @imdva 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@AndyWitmyer yea as i said there are towns that are safe, i live in a very safe town in nj 30 mins away from newark, virtually no crime happens here, but theres nothing thats keeping me here. maybe im just a city person.

  • @alexbrown2696
    @alexbrown2696 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    Atlantic City is one of those places locals like to avoid. I as a South Jerseyan personally haven't been there in over 7 years. A lot of crime and illegal activity happens there. It's not the worst town in NJ as that distinction goes to Camden one hour away which is 15 minutes from my house. Only reason many would go down there is for the casinos, Bass Pro Shops, restaurants, and free beaches. Most South Jerseyans go down to beaches in Cape May and Ocean Counties. AC does have an outlet mall that kinda serves as its downtown and they have a dead mall on a pier that once housed many upscale stores. The AC area is a tourist dependent area just like the rest of the Jersey Shore but is kinda poor in many areas. There are nice middle class suburbs like Linwood and EHT but awful ones nearby like Pleasantville and Egg Harbor City. No super wealthy towns like those you can find in Monmouth County like Rumson-Fair Haven and Spring Lake. Politically, AC votes Democrat just like any other inner city (although they elected a Republican mayor in 2013) but the metro area as a whole votes Republican like the rest of the Shore. Interestingly, AC's public school district is not an Abbott District unlike other urban school districts in the state but still terrible schools. AC struggles to diversify its economy as attempts to build water park resorts have failed and they still heavily focus on gambling with the opening of the Hard Rock and Ocean and Bart Blatstein planning a new casino for the Showboat. City's bad rap kina prevents non-casino ventures from happening. They were however able to open Stockton's AC campus right on the boardwalk.

    • @tiebella
      @tiebella 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Born and raised in. Camden, been in AC for 18 years and never experienced the bs I have here.

    • @christinsongbird
      @christinsongbird 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Hey neighbor I’m right outside of Philly but more south like deptford/Woodbury area

  • @RajahHindustani
    @RajahHindustani 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    I used to go there a lot in the 1990s and 2000s. It was great then. But the 2009 recession really killed the city and it never recovered.
    Then Trump Taj Mahal and other iconic places left.

  • @davidbalmer473
    @davidbalmer473 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Was born in New Jersey in 1964, and went there a couple of times. I cannot remember too much, but the heat and humidity was horrible in the summer. At the age of 4 it was off to Idaho, then Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maine, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, finishing high school there, then California. No more east coast, whole family is out west. Greetings from Switzerland, 33 years now. All good.

    • @arthedainedain9846
      @arthedainedain9846 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Switzerland was the only place that kept its borders safe in "The Camp Of The Saints"

    • @MasterMalrubius
      @MasterMalrubius 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@arthedainedain9846 If you want to keep it right you have to keep it white.

    • @3rooklyn
      @3rooklyn 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@MasterMalrubius Jesus.

    • @metalmike570
      @metalmike570 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      You seem like a really lucky guy!

    • @Youve_GotABeard
      @Youve_GotABeard 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      New Jersey native here settled in Switzerland as well. Seeing these streetscapes of AC it just drives home how grateful I am to have gotten out of NJ. And I know not everywhere in the US is like this, but in all honesty, my feeling is that, over the 4+ decades of my life, the whole USA is moribund. So disappointing and depressing.

  • @panas1122
    @panas1122 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    Honestly i like what you are doing. Probably the best yt channel talking about America’s problems (crime, homelessness, poverty). Lot of politics should watch this. I believe in the future someone become smarter and start fighting against this situations.

  • @joescrocca9419
    @joescrocca9419 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I grew up in South Jersey and still live in South Jersey. I went to high school in AC. AC had the chance to clean up the city after casinos got voted in to law. Instead the casinos horded the money and now it's a ghetto with casinos. Had the casinos invested in the city and made AC a destination resort the city would be gorgeous and prosperous.

  • @sj122s
    @sj122s 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I really enjoy the narration as the video plays out... I always end up laughing. Keep em coming!

  • @mynorthshore
    @mynorthshore 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    To begin with, the casinos turned their back on the Boardwalk. They took a 5 mile long internationally famous and renowned asset, The Boardwalk, and treated it like a subway platform.

    • @donarmstrong2182
      @donarmstrong2182 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Well said, that is a great description.

    • @sailingspark9748
      @sailingspark9748 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      You can't make money off of people wandering the boards. The worse the casinos can make the city seem, the less likely you are to venture outside.

  • @matthewcarriuolo3855
    @matthewcarriuolo3855 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    My parents and I used to visit Atlantic City in the early 1990s. We'd typically stay at the Days Inn along the Boardwalk. We enjoyed walking along the Boardwalk and riding in pushcarts. I have fond memories of riding on the indoor roller coaster at TropWorld (now Tropicana). They had a kiddie gambling section inside the Ocean One Mall, where you could gamble with tokens and win prizes. I recall their having an amazing buffet at the Sands. Finally, I remember some weird Miss America exhibit which was indoors along some corridor with moving walkways. It was fun. Even back then, though, we never ventured far from the Boardwalk, as we knew things got pretty sketchy pretty fast. I think we went to church one Sunday at a church a couple of blocks inland, and I remember being glad we were there on a Sunday morning and not on a Saturday night. . . .

    • @sailingspark9748
      @sailingspark9748 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      the Miss America exhibit was on the people mover between the boardwalk and the Sands Casino. When the Sands was leveled to make room for a never to be built bigger casino, the walkway went with it.

  • @MichaelWilliams-wo7yw
    @MichaelWilliams-wo7yw 2 ปีที่แล้ว +59

    The whole country is like this, you have the very rich and rich, and then the rest of the United States, drugs, homeless, jobless, divorce, single parents, lack of affordable housing, and everything is falling apart, from the streets, schools, Sin has destroyed this country and the world.

    • @markjackson9441
      @markjackson9441 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      It's not as easy as you say"just walk over and get a job." The sad fact is that most down and out people can't get any of these jobs. Most states require a clean record to work in a casino. Very minor offenses can exclude people from these jobs. Also there are requirements to even apply for many jobs such as licenses. It's hard to respond to an employer when you have nowhere to live and many times scetchy phone service. It's really hard to go to an interview in stinking dirty clothes. Once someone sinks so low in life it's nearly impossible to pull yourself out.

    • @dpt6849
      @dpt6849 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@markjackson9441 that's how your overlords exploited you and kept you poor.

    • @johnspinelli9396
      @johnspinelli9396 ปีที่แล้ว

      Not really, there's plenty of middle class and poor towns that aren't in ruins

  • @Youve_GotABeard
    @Youve_GotABeard 2 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    New Jersey native here settled in Switzerland. Seeing these streetscapes of AC it just drives home how grateful I am to have gotten out of NJ. And I know not everywhere in the US is like this, but in all honesty, my feeling is that, over the 4+ decades of my life, the whole USA is moribund. So disappointing and depressing.

    • @charleshammer2928
      @charleshammer2928 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Those parts of the USA under democrat party control. Switzerland usually doesn't grant permanent residency to foreigners, you're fortunate.

    • @Youve_GotABeard
      @Youve_GotABeard 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@charleshammer2928 Thank you. Turns out I could get my eu passport through my late grandfather who was born in Italy! Which means I got dual citizenship. Bilateral agreements between the eu and Switzerland made it very easy to settle here.

    • @charleshammer2928
      @charleshammer2928 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@Youve_GotABeard Both of my parents were born in Italy. I tried to apply for Italian citizenship to lesson the excessive taxes on property that I inherited from my father there. The local Italian consulate told me that I had to establish residency in Italy for 6 months before I would be granted citizenship.

    • @Youve_GotABeard
      @Youve_GotABeard 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@charleshammer2928 That’s crazy. Unless something has changed since 2007 when I received mine, one is not required to establish residency for six months in Italy in order to be granted citizenship. Either you meet the necessary criteria or not. Considering both of your parents were born in Italy, you basically fit the gold standard for an applicant.
      For the record, I have never established residency in Italy since getting my Italian passport.
      You should go for it man!
      “Jus sanguinis is a principle of nationality law by which citizenship is determined or acquired by the nationality or ethnicity of one or both parents. Children at birth may be citizens of a particular state if either or both of their parents have citizenship of that state.”

    • @crustycobs2669
      @crustycobs2669 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Maryland resident here in Portugal, echo your thoughts. A.C was huge back in the day

  • @venusknight6533
    @venusknight6533 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    I visit AC all the time. As long as you stay by the boardwalk and casinos and stay away from residents, you'll be fine. Its a struggling city but lands on its feet. It was way worse in the 80s and 90s.

    • @Jeff-uj8xi
      @Jeff-uj8xi 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I've lived here since the early 1950's. It was a different world back then. I wish you guys could have seen it. Department stores, 5 & 10 stores, many movie theatres, large crowds on shopping nights, super markets, hardware stores, restaurants, diners, Christmas lights on Atlantic Avenue, Pacific Avenue, the Boardwalk, and even on Arctic Avenue. Christmas lights on the Monument and in the park in front of the old High School near Albany Ave. It was a gorgeous display. Now nothing !! And lots of parades on the Boardwalk and Atlantic Ave. People today can't imagine it. Even trolley cars running on Atlantic Avenue. I rode on them. Fare 15 cents. Jitney was a dime.

    • @PokrPro21
      @PokrPro21 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@Jeff-uj8xi all of America has gone to shit since the 1950s. I'm 37 years old and I just shake my head at this colossal shithole we now have

  • @ron6653
    @ron6653 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Atlantic city has been like this since the day the casinos got into town, legalized gambling contributes to cities falling apart.

  • @daviddisandro821
    @daviddisandro821 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    as someone who lives in atlantic county outside of the city, its not unusual that atlantic city gets horrible reviews. yet the surrounding communities, for the most part are not so bad. they can be desireble communities to live, work , and raise a family

    • @daviddisandro821
      @daviddisandro821 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @Bali Breeze i have a while i'm in buena

    • @user-cx9vo9rn2x
      @user-cx9vo9rn2x ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Exactly. Born in AC and moved away 20 years ago..family in Egg Harbor Township and Galloway. He is truly embellishing for likes.

  • @sylviacoffey5645
    @sylviacoffey5645 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    My husband and I spent a few days in Atlantic City in October of 2001...there were sketchy people there even back then, we had a good time though.. it does look more run down then when we were there.. ty for the video and the updates. love your sense of humor

  • @tinyBIGDOG
    @tinyBIGDOG 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I'm A.C. born and raised from the Inlet. And I go back every few years to see family, and it gets worse every time I go back. It's always looked like this.

  • @tom56ism
    @tom56ism 2 ปีที่แล้ว +110

    The whole USA is on a downward spiral. Just take a look at the crime stats for all the major cities. If you did not know they were American cities you might think its Mexican cities controlled by the Cartels, or Brazil that has a number of the cities that rank most dangerous in the world. Remember, Empires are not destroyed by outside invaders but tend to collapse internally from decay, crime, and moral perversion, exactly what's happening in the USA.

    • @tigertalks1567
      @tigertalks1567 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Democrats

    • @gregorycyr9272
      @gregorycyr9272 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Most of New Jersey is a dump.

    • @brutallyremastered4255
      @brutallyremastered4255 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      More money for israel! Yay!

    • @SirLangsalot
      @SirLangsalot 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Chris Hedges: "America the Farewell Tour".

    • @lindacollins6939
      @lindacollins6939 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      All great civilizations have collapsed from within…America is on a downward spiral….

  • @matthewfeduzi4751
    @matthewfeduzi4751 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Another great one Nick. This channel is excellent. Keep up the great work.

  • @alexwhite3158
    @alexwhite3158 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    That’s sad, Atlantic City has the potential to really nice, imagine if they cleaned up the boardwalks, gif the hotels upgraded, the streets cleaned, the burnt out crack houses demolished and replaced with brand new housing and putting in plants, landscaping and trees… it’s like a mini extension of Camden or north Philly that happens to be located along the ocean!

  • @johnking975
    @johnking975 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    I really like the shift where you’re starting to tell the truth instead of dance around it! 💯

  • @MsSassySean
    @MsSassySean 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    When you going to the hills of Appalachia? I'm so excited to see the communities in the Tennessee mountains and the Kentucky hills. Virginia would be nice too. Why don't you show us what's happening in those places...I'd love to see you interview a few of those people.

  • @oniwabangroup
    @oniwabangroup 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This is a great update

  • @funnymonkeee9803
    @funnymonkeee9803 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Atlantic City is like amusement parks in the Northeast. The bad weather makes it only popular in the summer. There is no marketing possible to fix bad weather. Connecticut Indian casinos stay popular to loyal consumers by catering them with luxury, rooms, meals, gifts, shows, etc. Connecticut gives their customers the wealthy lifestyle like Las Vegas. Atlantic City used to do this too but not anymore that is why their businesses have gone down.

  • @Unalocasinrumbo
    @Unalocasinrumbo 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    finally a video about jersey! the last time i went it was on october of 2020!

  • @charzbrubaker4908
    @charzbrubaker4908 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    11:50🤣🤣🤣🤣 well you could have been a but more professional by replacing "peeing" with urinating!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Great video!

  • @2jimmy283
    @2jimmy283 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    Thanks Nick. I always enjoy watching your work, though a bit sad to know the city is quite different from what I used to know from the 1980's.

    • @danielnoble3995
      @danielnoble3995 ปีที่แล้ว

      True, 2 Jimmy, it really was not all that bad in the 80s, but the real heydays of AC was in the 1940s, maybe through the 1950s.

  • @latinpiknee7684
    @latinpiknee7684 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    Went there yesterday. Walked around the neighborhoods. The home structures looked like the houses will fall to the ground. The food restaurants sell dried up shit "food". People did not look healthy. I cried at seeing such devastation. I wasn't afraid of being robbed or attacked, as people didn't look healthy enough to get into a scuffle with me. Lots can't even stand up straight and I saw alot of overweight people. No one looked healthy enough to get into a scuffle.

  • @paulsuprono7225
    @paulsuprono7225 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    There is a homeless shelter . . . behind the Convention Center. Residents work the boardwalk . . . during the day ! 💀

    • @niceandflyy
      @niceandflyy 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      But tourist probably don’t even know that

    • @SrAJones-ns7sx
      @SrAJones-ns7sx 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@niceandflyy They sure don't! Pacific Ave is not the safest but there are maybe 2/3 spots tourist folks hang

    • @Jeff-uj8xi
      @Jeff-uj8xi 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Paul, What you are referring to is the Atlantic City Rescue Mission. But most of the homeless in Atlantic City are living under the Boardwalk. It's like a city down there and it's not just the Atlantic City homeless living there. Homeless people from many other areas come to Atlantic City to live there. Nick Johnson should have checked that out. He would have been appalled at what he saw. That should have been in this video. And Johnson should have driven through the projects in Atlantic City. Stanley Holmes Village would have been delightful. But he would have needed a bullet proof vest just to drive by. He might have been shot in the crossfire. And Johnson should have shown the huge vacant lots where casinos have been torn down.Included are the Sands, The Playboy/Worlds Fair, Trump Plaza, etc. A tour through abandoned casinos would have opened some eyes too.

  • @manuelwowchow1476
    @manuelwowchow1476 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I would like to thank this lady for the advice. I won't wander around at night neither. This isn't a pleasant thing to do, due to it's safety measures, even I waited and waited for the Jitney that never showed up, but called a cab instead. She's very true about this wandering around at night. Not a good idea, unless you're that prepared this these types of surprises.

  • @Netti103
    @Netti103 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I love nicks videos but sometimes I feel like he doesn’t see the beauty of bad neighborhoods. I also love visiting very bad neighborhoods but I see a beauty in the perseverance of people and the love they still have for each other. Also, I enjoy them because they are NEVER boring. I get bored with suburbia

  • @richardbartolo2890
    @richardbartolo2890 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    In 1975 I stayed right near the board walk for a week end and was out all day and most of the night. People were friendly I saw cops patrolling here and there. There was no graffiti/violent crime there yet that I could see. But I stayed mostly by the boardwalk area. It's nothing like what I saw back then.

  • @lindagolden9892
    @lindagolden9892 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    🦢 I’m really disappointed in your total negativity of Atlantic City, NJ as just about anywhere in our country one can find many a town facing similar issues. Yet families have remained raising their children for generations creating fond memories to last a lifetime. Sure the old stomping grounds may change, favorite hangouts and restaurants might be replaced, but it’s home forever in our hearts.

  • @ROTALOT
    @ROTALOT 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    I taught ESL there in the early 90's. End of every day multiple squad cars were lined up out front of the high school to do who knows what. My students typically lived in group homes where people on night shift slept in the kids' beds during the day. Three teachers there were also part time dealers at the blackjack tables. I had a neighbor who dumpster dived the casinos and once brought me a 100 lb sack of brown rice tossed out because of a few weevils. Brigantine was nice back then. But meth called crank was really popular among the night shift casino workers as was moonlighting to get by. I have many vintage beach photos of family in AC in the 1920's, a more innocent time.

    • @ROTALOT
      @ROTALOT 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@marcusleja7133 Hi Marcus, yes, very bad in Phoenix for a long time.

    • @Ryantravisaol
      @Ryantravisaol 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @Bali Breeze real world

  • @carlosgamez9521
    @carlosgamez9521 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Beautifully done, Nick

  • @rexoliver7780
    @rexoliver7780 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Atlantic City is home to the largest pipe organ in the world. It is in the Boardwalk Convention Center. The organ is in the process of being restored. Also the Boardwalk Center has another smaller pipe organ -their Ballroom organ. Also under restoration. Both of these organs are “holy grail” for organ fans.

  • @billp4
    @billp4 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Camden on the Atlantic. Can't imagine gambling online. Being in the casino is all part of the experience

    • @paulsuprono7225
      @paulsuprono7225 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Hmmmmmmm . . . and I'd stay away from Camden, drugs & guns 💀

    • @d.adrien7423
      @d.adrien7423 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Probably smells like one big ash tray inside the casino.

  • @leftybelle7022
    @leftybelle7022 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    It's so sad. We went for years , and our most recent trip was shocking. Heartbreaking to see the rundown hotels and businesses.

    • @Dalt21
      @Dalt21 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Why shocking? I’ve grown up in this area. It’s nicer now than in the early 2000s

    • @leftybelle7022
      @leftybelle7022 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Dalt21 glad to hear. Sounds like I need to take a closer look.

    • @Dalt21
      @Dalt21 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@leftybelle7022 it’s definitely not as pretty as vegas or the other jersey shore towns south of AC. But the casinos are always lively. And with Stockton university having an AC campus, they’ve definitely been making the southern section of AC look nicer. I’ve grown up here, and it’s always looked kinda run down in ways. My mom was born and raised in Ac during the 50s to early 70s and said it’s always been pretty rough. I still recommend it to people, but always recommend cape may first before AC lol

    • @BrayZap
      @BrayZap 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Are people high on here? I went twice this summer and it's been great. Nothing that different at all from there or any other beach. Just the addition of more things to do like beach clubs, night clubs, etc

  • @eddieraffs5909
    @eddieraffs5909 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I worked in Newark and the Salt Water Taffy city in the late 1970s when the Resorts casino just open. Atlantic City was bad then. I can't imagine what it's like now, but my experience prompted me to move to a southern state as soon as I retired.

  • @markvinette4802
    @markvinette4802 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Hi there Nick Johnson . I really enjoyed this item about Atlantic City. I just stumbled upon it whilst Browsing through TH-cam.
    It brought back a ton of memories as you see I used to live in Massachusetts and Often traveled to Atlantic catlantic city with my with my father and mother back in the sixties and maybe even in the fifties.
    At that time it was a very fun and safe place to go. We spent most of our time walking the boardwalk the boardwalk and sitting on the beautiful beach.
    We never had any trouble there but we really enjoyed the vendors in the saltwater taffy of course.
    I'm 68 years old so you can imagine that was quite a while ago.
    We made numerous trips down there since it wasn't too far away and usually stayed 2 or 3 nights in a hotel a block or so off the boardwalk area is the boardwalk area.
    I don't remember any problems there with homeless people are most people are any of the stuff that you described but you described but that was long before all Of this started.
    I remember on the steel pier that was a guy that used to jump a horse from about 5 stories up stories up into a poolAnd there was also a diving bell where you could get hoisted down into the ocean.
    Well we have our time there and stopped going there after a while because it became boring and started going to Wildwood New Jersey.
    Funny thing yes this was back in the sixtiesThen in the late seventies I'll became a tour bus driver and and we did a lot of 3 and 4 day trips to Atlantic City my my 1st trip being the day that resorts International OpenAnd as you know that was the 1st casino in Atlantic City.
    I Had a tour guide that would go with me and we would stay at resorts I think on the 5th or 6th floor.
    Well one day we got a brilliant idea to take those little coffee cream containers that they would supply you with in the room and throw them out the window.
    Little did we know a police officer was turning the corner just as we threw them out and they hit him square in the head.
    It was very funny and we had pictures of him searching all the rooms to see who had coffee cream containers but then we realized that wasn't realistic.
    Back then in my childhood and also when I was doing the bus trips Atlantic City was a nice place and was not decrepit.
    Lots of good times thereSo you could say I saw the good part of it then the bad part of it as it started to decay and then the good part of it again and now it's decaying again.
    It's a shame because it was really a veryFun place to go.
    I haven't been there in years because now I live in Florida but it's too bad that some peopleHave now made it decay again.
    I don't know if you've ever heard of this place but it's called Laughlin NevadaThey have virtually no crime and about 15 casinos and it's right across the river from bullhead Arizona.
    It's a fun place to go as my friends live in bullhead ArizonaAnd I go there a lot.
    It's a great place to go and if you haven't heard of it I would suggest you go there and give it a try again thanks for the memories on your website

  • @niccoarcadia4179
    @niccoarcadia4179 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I used to go to AC about once a month for the weekend. It is best to stay inside your hotel, gamble there, drink there, and use the restaurants there and then leave. There's no reason to walk the streets.

  • @johnbollea
    @johnbollea 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Let’s be honest here. Atlantic City on weekends, Friday - Sunday is packed. The hotels are sold out. The restaurants and nightclubs are packed. Borgata and Ocean Casino are Vegas like resorts. Yes the streets are very bad. Stay in the casino, and on the boardwalk. You will be fine.

  • @jonlouis2582
    @jonlouis2582 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    That was extremely interesting. I haven’t been to AC in 20 years thank you.

  • @rabbit0877
    @rabbit0877 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Not to go off topic from the serious discussion at hand, but you’re the prime reason “What the what the??” is now a regular part of my vocabulary. 😂

  • @EDMTMLFilms
    @EDMTMLFilms 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I went to school when it was still Stockton College in the early 2000s. I lived in Galloway, Pleasantville, Brigantine, and Mayslanding. But never in AC. Not even when I worked at the Borgata for several years 03 to 04/05. The boardwalk at night has always been a no go if you had half a brain. We only went into AC for trouble. Maybe it's worse now but AC itself has always been a rundown and dangerous place.

  • @kelp02
    @kelp02 2 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    i’m surprised that in 30 minutes there are no comments that say
    “jersey sucks 😒”
    All my life i’ve thought the beach was the only part of the city and atlantic city was so beautiful, but when we when inside the city to eat lunch,
    i saw so many rundown houses and sad people☹️.

    • @MrFriesz
      @MrFriesz 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I go to AC often and have since the 80s. There are plenty of good places to go but you have to know what to stay away from.

    • @tommytomtomt
      @tommytomtomt 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      jersey does suck, thas why its the top #2 place that people are leaving in droves , daily

    • @kelp02
      @kelp02 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@tommytomtomt but in the good places the population is going way uphill

    • @MrFriesz
      @MrFriesz 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@tommytomtomt You can't tell it by my town

    • @robertnilla6845
      @robertnilla6845 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      i grew up in new jersey.. left that disaster 46 years ago.. never went back!!! thank god i live in wyoming!!

  • @Grgeous1
    @Grgeous1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    During the winter months it’s super dead. Once it get warm, the outlet, boardwalk and even pacific Ave has people walking up and down

  • @ScorpioBornIn69
    @ScorpioBornIn69 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I was there once back in 1998 to crash at the casinos and hit the beach. What was shocking was seeing a drastic scene of the first block from the shore of the row of nice casinos and resorts, but just one and two blocks away it is a ghetto.

  • @dylonmartinez7946
    @dylonmartinez7946 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Went there two years ago with a friend and I was surprised how run down it was, overall super ghetto

  • @timkline162
    @timkline162 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    it's a little better in the summer when there's actually people around, but yeah, it used to be great once. Lots of fun arcades back in the 80's. A lot of people from Philly would go there, but now that there's casino's in Philly, and nicer beaches just a few miles away in safer and cleaner suburbs, there's really not too many reasons to go there anymore.

  • @susanneschmidtcruz7156
    @susanneschmidtcruz7156 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Last time we went to AC was to see friends and that was 6 years ago. Only there for maybe 4 hours and that was enough for us. We drank at the Irish Pub which was nice and my AC friend is always posting to DOAC. Thanks but twice was enough for us,. It's sad because it was once a beautiful place.

  • @lindagolden9892
    @lindagolden9892 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    🏖 I grew up just inland from the city; reminiscing from the age of 70 now. In my humble opinion it’s always been an older historic seaside town. There’s a certain charm in these small town old brick building structured homes and storefront businesses as well as the infamous boardwalk. Although the casinos promised to improve the city that never really happened. What did was the running off of elderly folks that were once able to afford housing on the shore front while enjoying their walks along the boards, the fresh ocean breeze, feeding the seagulls and hearing laughter of children building sandcastles on the beach while chasing incoming waves. Atlantic City is a part of my childhood memories filled with Easter dress ups and walks on the boards, Steeplechase Pier, amusement rides and sticky cotton candy, enjoying the scent filled air of freshly roasting p’nuts and catching a glimpse of
    Mr Peanut greeting folks, three wheeled rolling chairs being pushed along the boards, Taylor Pork Roll restaurant luring hungry folks in, freshly made Belgium waffle ice cream sandwiches from a boardwalk vendor’s cart, Fralinger’s salt water taffy, a summer job in a small p’nut and candy shop, digging my toes in the sand while tanning my youthful body, seeing Lucy the Elephant further down along Ventnor’s beachfront, etc etc etc. 🏖

  • @Sin526
    @Sin526 2 ปีที่แล้ว +31

    There's an "elephant in the room" in all of these discussions but we're not allowed to talk about it openly and honestly.

    • @stevenhickey4223
      @stevenhickey4223 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      @Sin526
      You mean Black people?
      Pretty easy to say.
      No one tells me what/how to say/think.

    • @cesarpisa6964
      @cesarpisa6964 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Yup! And this is why the deterioration and crime continues because no one will fix the problem let alone talk about it!

    • @bazodee2
      @bazodee2 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Trumps failed casinos?

    • @bobwallace9814
      @bobwallace9814 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@bazodee2 LOL, nice try simp.

    • @lnlself1117
      @lnlself1117 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Nice to know that there are no white addicts there.

  • @ant.8635
    @ant.8635 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Man I had some of the best nights in my life in Atlantic City. Spent a lot of my late teens early 20's there. It's always been the same honestly. It's not as dangerous as people make it seem lol

  • @aggierowe9574
    @aggierowe9574 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    UGH! It was starting to look like this in the 80s,Nick!! So sad. To see this.

  • @catmando4448
    @catmando4448 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Gheessh, you make it sound like the worst place on earth! The police presence in AC is amazing and everyone on Pacific abd Atlantic Ave. know this. I wouldn't walk around any city at night, but AC is definitely safe in shopping areas off the boardwalk during the day, like Tangers "The Walk" in AC. No problems whatsoever! Let's not scare people away from a cool city with a lot going for it, free beaches, outlet shopping mall, casinos, stores on the boardwalk, amusements, night clubs, concerts. AC rocks baby!

  • @sonyajrdn
    @sonyajrdn 2 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    I grew up in south jersey I lived in Atlantic City and around it .. I was never unsafe there is so many good people but there is bad also like anywhere else. When u come specifically to film the bad spot that's what your going to get .. I'm guessing this was ur goal correct? So take this with a grain of salt.. this video anger's me so much . And I hope everyone from Atlantic City that sees this tell the real trust .. horrible absolutely horrible

    • @tombrady2734
      @tombrady2734 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Stop the bs this city is done

    • @anthonypate1482
      @anthonypate1482 ปีที่แล้ว

      I was raised in South Jersey also. '69-87

    • @michaeldng
      @michaeldng ปีที่แล้ว

      Word. This lil man needs a spanking or a bottle

    • @Dalt21
      @Dalt21 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@tombrady2734 you’re so dramatic. Every time I go there it’s packed with people.

    • @flightofthebumblebee9529
      @flightofthebumblebee9529 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      I was there 3 weeks ago with my dad to see KC and the Sunshine Band and I was walking all over the boardwalk and Pacific Ave in the middle of the night and never had any problems. I walked from my room at Bally's to the Maxi Mart beside McDonald's near the outlets at like 3am and sure I saw hookers and dealers but nobody bothered me at all.

  • @MrJestyler
    @MrJestyler 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Haven’t been to Atlantic City in 30 years. The small part I saw was run down so stayed near casino and only ventured out on boardwalk during day when busy. There are no jobs there and the jobs they do have are low paying service jobs. Atlantic City is certainly not poster child for urban decay but it certainly among much company with other cities across country.

  • @sevenout4361
    @sevenout4361 ปีที่แล้ว

    I'm a dealer in Biloxi Mississippi. 15yrs. Just wanted to correct your statement about dealer pay. We make less than minimum wage at most casinos $4.35 to $7.00 + tips. Cheers. Good video

  • @aribasmajian18
    @aribasmajian18 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Good interviews i went Atlantic city as a kid back in 1996 or so it was pretty rough my dad grew up there the boardwalk was nice it had this cool candy store that made saltwater taffee. The rest of Atlantic city was kind of shady.

  • @whiskey_tango_foxtrot__
    @whiskey_tango_foxtrot__ 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Gambling only came to AC in the 1970s.
    It has been controlled by a certain party for 60+ years.
    Billions wasted yet they have an iron grip on power.

  • @paulsuprono7225
    @paulsuprono7225 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    9:10 . . . vacant property was in 1998 - The Sands Casino, first to fall/fail of casinos, on the boardwalk ! 💀

    • @SrAJones-ns7sx
      @SrAJones-ns7sx 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      There were a slew of hotels , Sands was not the 1st to fall. Locals tell me when the family amusements started to taper off on the boardwalk it was gradual downward spiral. Coney Island at least kept that Family aspect....

  • @JhonnyBoi
    @JhonnyBoi 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Atlantic City was amazing as a kid. I remember being before during and after the mall on the pier was built. That was its prime, soon after it opened it was a decline. I remember waiting in the long line to get into the Apple store right at the entrance for my chance to see the new iPhone, the first with a front facing camera. It’s sad to see it has declined. I think since the casinos was all the city offered outside the beach, that lead to its decline. Vegas has so much to do other than casinos. In fact I’ve gone to Vegas at least 5 times now and I’ve never gone gambling there. If the manage to bring more attractions, the city will live again.

  • @catherinewu1265
    @catherinewu1265 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you for sharing!🙏👍🥰❤️🙏👍🥰❤️🙏👍🥰❤️